ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — The Conservative government is trying to stick to its economic agenda at a G20 summit being dominated by the crisis in Syria, announcing Thursday it plans to reduce Canada’s federal debt-to-GDP ratio to 25 per cent by 2021 — a potential softening of what was projected just last fall.

Canada’s federal debt-to-GDP ratio — considered a key indicator of the health of the economy and public finances — was at 34.6 per cent in 2012, with the country’s net debt less than half the G7 average.

However, the government’s promise to lower the ratio to 25 per cent by 2021 is conditional, based on the country’s economic outlook.

Also, a Finance Canada report released last fall on long-term fiscal projections pegged Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio at 23.8 per cent in 2020-21.

“It’s important to have targets,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters Thursday at the G20 summit, saying he’s confident the government can accomplish its goal.

“We’re going to aim at 25. If we do a bit better, that’s great.”

Flaherty said the government is going to encourage G20 countries to follow Canada’s lead in setting targets for reducing debt-to-GDP ratios.

“Fiscal sustainability is fundamental,” he said.

The Harper government is projecting an $18.7-billion deficit for the current 2013-14 fiscal year, with an estimated federal debt of $627.4 billion. The Conservative government has added nearly $170 billion to the federal debt since the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pledging his government will eliminate the deficit by 2015, just in time for a federal election campaign.

Canada has for years been urging its G20 counterparts to rein in deficits and debt. In St. Petersburg, Harper and Flaherty are calling on them to adopt “ambitious country-specific, medium-term fiscal strategies” that not only take into account economic conditions but also aim for more sustainable debt-to-GDP levels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cautioned G20 leaders Thursday at the start of the summit that the global economy remains fragile and could still slip back into crisis.

“It is too early to become complacent, and our main task is to bring back sustainable and balanced growth to the global economy,” Putin told the leaders at the first working session. “Unfortunately, this problem has not yet been resolved; systemic risks and conditions conducive to the recurrence of an acute crisis persist.”

The Harper government says its new federal target will help Canada meet its G20 commitments for advanced economies, including setting specific targets for debt-to-GDP ratios beyond 2016, with clear strategies and timelines to achieve them.

Canada is also looking for G20 members to promise to avoid new protectionist trade measures until at least 2016, beyond their current commitment to 2014.

While it’s committed to returning to balanced budgets by 2015, the Harper government no longer has a target for when it will eliminate the federal debt.

Flaherty said last year the economic downturn forced the federal government to shelve its long-term debt plans, with new targets only to be set once the government begins posting budget surpluses again, which is expected in 2015-16.

Harper, meanwhile, held a bilateral meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the summit with Ethiopian Prime Minister and African Union chairperson Hailemariam Desalegn, with the two leaders discussing bilateral relations, the global economy and economic dynamics in Africa.

G20 leaders, along with their foreign ministers, are discussing the crisis in Syria on the margins of the summit, including how to respond to what the West says is the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons on its own people.

On the economy, the Conservative government’s push for G20 members to shore up their finances is a bit of a tough sell, however, for many countries still struggling with high unemployment and sluggish growth.

A report released this week from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said a “moderate recovery” is underway in some of the major advanced economies, with promising signs in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Japan.

However, growth is slowing in some of the major emerging economies, which “points to sluggish near-term growth globally,” the report said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking Thursday to reporters in St. Petersburg, said it’s critical the G20 leaders send a message of confidence and global economic stability.

“The global recovery still remains fragile,” Barroso said, noting the positive signs in a number of advanced economies but stalled growth in many emerging markets.

“We in Europe are seeing a turning point. We should avoid any kind of complacency, namely because of the high level of unemployment. But indeed, there are positive signs of recovery.”

Senior Parliament Hill reporter for the Ottawa Citizen, politics junkie, wannabe pro golfer and someone who has wordsmithed at newspapers in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. I've covered politics at... read more every level, including city hall in Ottawa and Calgary, the Alberta legislature in Edmonton and now back in Ottawa covering the Hill.View author's profile